Time, Talent, Treasure (Exodus 35)

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​Here in Exodus 35, the instructions that were supposed to be established previously, were now being taught, for a delay had occurred due to rebellion. God will keep His children in a place of punishment until restitution takes place. We must be right before God and the tribe of believers He has placed around before we can expect to move forward.

Moses calls together the whole community to share with them the Lord's commands. In western society we enjoy the freedom of individual choice, we are hardly forced to do anything. People from other countries long for this type of freedom and are willing to even die trying to cross over America's borders. Yet, regarding the Kingdom of God, it can be rather challenging. Believers come and go as they choose when they feel like it, which makes leading people difficult. How can we move ahead if due to inconsistency people have hardly a clue regarding God's direction?

God, yes, moves in us individually but yet we are connected to a corporate body, so our individual calling is tied into the community of believers where He has established us. Believers need to come together weekly to be in-tuned with God's will. It should not be a choice but a mandatory obligation. Not out of law but out of the desire to be supplied with the necessary grace to succeed in life.

The first instructions which are repeated throughout the old covenant, regard the Sabbath. Despite the Fall, God made a temporary way for people to commune with Him. Sin isn't so much the act it is the desire to live life separately from God. Sabbath is a time to do no work and to focus on one's need for God being present in their life.

In the New Covenant, in Hebrews 4, we see that we now have stepped into the greater promise of rest which is perpetual, continual, evermore. We can rest in the Lord as we work which lightens the load and removes the burden.
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Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together weekly or harden our heart as the children of Israel did regarding entering the Sabbath rest that is now available through Jesus Christ, daily.

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The Lord commanded the children of Israel in Exodus 35:4-5 to give an offering but He said "only those with generous hearts." We should not give to God out of a heart of regret.

Romans 12:1 says "to present ourselves to God as living sacrifices.....which is our reasonable service considering all He has done." God will not bless people no matter what they give if their heart is ungrateful. It is all about the heart! Leaders should not manipulate people to give and those giving should not do so unless they have joy in doing it.

Those who have made Jesus, Lord are living sacrifices, their talent, treasure, and time is no longer their own. If giving is a problem then you got to ask yourself, have you really made Jesus, Lord?

The rest of Exodus 35 deals with talent. When we give our talent to the Lord, He gives in return great wisdom, ability, and expertise. We should never fear to give to God because the return is so much greater than what is given. What we have will never be enough but those who give to God never lack.

Our talent will never be good enough, but through God, it will be able to accomplish above and beyond what any human can do.

When we give God our time what could possibly never get done, just somehow, someway, through God's hands, time stands still, and His will is fulfilled.
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Our focus should not be on what we lose when we surrender but in what we gain. When we realize that in Him alone do we live and have our being (Acts 17:28), we have truly stepped into the abundant life that Christ has promised.